Shopify or WooCommerce: which to choose for your online shop

The real difference

With Shopify you rent a shop: servers, security, updates and payments are its job. The code isn't yours and you pay each month. With WooCommerce the shop is yours: it sits on your hosting and can be moved elsewhere, but updates, security and backups remain work to be done.

What Shopify costs

Prices read on 31 October 2026 on shopify.com/it/prezzi, the Italian price page, with annual billing:

• Basic 27 euros a month, Grow 79 euros, Advanced 289 euros;
• with Shopify Payments, online cards cost from 2.1% plus 0.30 euros on Basic to 1.6% plus 0.30 euros on Advanced;
• with another payment provider, Shopify adds 2% on Basic, 1% on Grow and 0.6% on Advanced.

Then there are the apps. Many features are added with paid monthly apps, and that sum is worth doing before you start.

What WooCommerce costs

The plugin is free. The real costs are:

• hosting fit for a shop: the kind at a few euros a month often slows down at the cart;
• paid plugins for shipping, invoices and connections;
• weekly updates and checks, because a broken plugin stops sales;
• your payment provider's commission, with nothing extra for WooCommerce.

When to choose Shopify

• Nobody can look after the technical side and you don't want to think about it.
• Few products, a clean design, a fast start.
• You sell mainly to consumers, with ordinary shipping.

When to choose WooCommerce

• You already have a WordPress site or want everything together: blog, pages and shop.
• The product has particular rules: configurators, customer prices, quotes.
• You want to connect your own business software, with full access to the data.
• You don't want to depend on a fee that can change.

Dracartys sells on WooCommerce: its CRM reads orders from the shop and prepares listings for eBay and Vinted.

Connecting business software

Both have good APIs, and I have connected both to business software. WooCommerce also lets you get into the database and code when needed. Shopify has polished APIs, but stays within the limits it sets. See connecting your online store.

If you are on PrestaShop

If you are already on PrestaShop and it works, you may not have to change: first see upgrading PrestaShop. My service is on the E-commerce page.

Frequently asked questions

Which one costs less?

It depends on turnover. With few orders, the Shopify fee is often below the hosting and maintenance of a well-run WooCommerce shop. With many orders the commissions weigh more, and WooCommerce pays off again. Do the sum with your own numbers.

Can I move from one to the other?

Yes. Products, customers and orders can be exported. The design has to be redone, and with redirects from the old addresses your Google positions stay.

Is Shopify suited to B2B?

The full B2B features are in the top plans. Customer price lists, agents and orders with approval are handled more freely with WooCommerce or a custom portal.

Which one does better on Google?

Both can do well. Product pages written by you, speed and structure are what count. WooCommerce leaves more freedom over addresses; Shopify imposes paths like /products/ and /collections/.

Read more

• The service: Online shops
• Work of this kind: CRM Dracartys
• More pages like this: Before you decide